The Travels of 4 Couch Potatoes: Chilling Out In Hakone

Monday, July 22, 2019

One of The Husband and I's favorite places in Japan is Hakone. This mountainous resort area about 1.5 hours outside of Tokyo is comprised of several small towns. These municipalities are all connected via various forms of transportation (bus, ropeway, cablecar, and boat) that forms a loop. Hakone is famous for its hot springs, onsen in Japanese, and is a popular getaway for Tokyoite's. We still talk about the great time we had there so of course I would not miss a chance to go back.

I purchased tickets for the Hakone Limited Express Romancecar that goes directly from Shinjuku station to Hakone-Yumoto station. Despite its name, it is just an ordinary train and has no romance involved. So The Girl and I packed up and walked to Shinjuku station, passing many office workers in their unofficial uniforms.

Office workers' "uniforms"

We purchased some ekiben, bento boxes that are sold in train stations that usually reflect the specialty of the area, and then sat in our assigned seats. They were nice and roomy. We were hungry and had already finished our ekiben even before the train took off. I had purchased tickets on the right side of the train because that's the side that will afford a view of Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately we were greeted with a cloudy and foggy day with visibility less than 100 feet.

Ekiben

Station bento boxes

Famous Tokyo Bananas

Like a twinkie but with banana flavored filling

After getting to Hakone-Yumoto station, I sent our luggage to our hotel for the night via a luggage delivery service. Because this shop only services the Hakone area, they could guarantee delivery to your hotel by 3 pm if you drop your luggage off by 12 pm. I had already purchased the Hakone Freepass the day before. This ticket allows you unlimited rides on the various transportation methods in the area.

There are two ways of doing the Hakone loop. The classic loop is counter-clockwise and consists of: a local train from Hakone-Yumoto to Gora that involves a few switchbacks, a cablecar from Gora to Sounzan, a ropeway from Sounzan to Togendai, a sightseeing boat from Togendai to Hakone-machi, walk from Hakone-machi to Moto-Hakone, then bus back to Hakone-Yumoto. Say that in one breath!

There is also the clockwise loop which is the exact opposite of the classic loop and is supposed to be less crowded. That's what I chose. The bus from Hakone-Yumoto was standing room only and took about 35 minutes. So much for being less crowded! However, once we reached Moto-Hakone, the crowd dispersed and the rest of the trip was quite peaceful.

Since Hakone is in the mountains, the area is much cooler than Tokyo. This was a welcome respite from the heat, and The Girl even complained of being cold on a few occasions. Despite it being a cloudy day, we only got a light drizzle of rain later in the day. This was fortuitous as we only had a small, cute, Snoopy umbrella that I had picked up at Kiddy Land the day before.

The walk from Moto-Hakone to Hakone-machi was very nice. There are some cute Japanese houses in both towns and also the old Tokaido in between. The Tokaido is an old road that connected Kyoto to Edo (modern day Tokyo) during the Edo period. Part of the Tokaido can still be used in this area. It is lined with tall cedar trees and is parallel to the modern road. The trees are so dense that one can not see the cars on the roads. If it weren't for the automobile noises, one can certainly imagine what it felt like back in the Edo period.

The peaceful Tokaido way

Our next leg of the loop was the sightseeing cruise. These boats were built like old pirate ships and painted very colorfully. Unfortunately, the serenity of our walk was rudely terminated when our cruise ship was boarded by two large tour groups, one Chinese and one Indian, two countries known for their noise and loud citizens. The cruise passed the famous torii gate of the Hakone Shrine that is built in the water of Ashi lake. We could've walked to the shrine and seen the gate from land. However, that would've involved a lot more hiking, so we passed. Besides, I think our view of the torii gate is just fine from the water. And we didn't have to stand in line to take our picture.

Let's hope we don't get attacked since the cannons are decorative only.

We got our picture without waiting in line.

Do you see the line waiting for a picture?

Another famous sight in Hakone is the Owakudani Valley which is a volcanic dale with active sulfur vents. One of the famous souvenirs of the sulfur vents are the black eggs. Chicken eggs are lowered into the vents and cooked. The shell turns black in the process but the taste is not affected. Supposedly eating one of these eggs will extend your life by seven years. The Husband had three and I had two on our last visit (you have to buy a minimum of five eggs) so I'm sure The Kids will be thankful that we've extended our life so much when they are wiping our old and decrepit butts later.

Unfortunately the ropeway that goes through this area has been closed due to volcanic activity, and no eggs can be made. The Girl was very disappointed because she has been worried about death and her mortality lately (don't ask). Instead, a bus will now take you from Togendai to Sounzan, the two locations normally connected by the ropeway. Even though we couldn't see the Owakudani Valley, we could certainly still smell it on our bus ride.

There were plenty of "fake" Owakudani eggs for sale

Our view of Mt Fuji

The next part would be the cable car that traverses a segment that is lined by hydrangeas. Even the seats of the cable car are covered in hydrangea-patterned fabric. Multiple stops were made to small towns but we bypassed them all and rode all the way to the end, Gora Station. We walked around for a little bit, but there were only a few souvenir stores selling pretty much the same things. A light drizzle of rain started at this point. Since we only had the small umbrella between the two of us and The Girl complained about being cold, we got on the train bound for Hakone-Yumoto.

The cable car track lined with hydrangeas

A few cute shops outside of Gora station

The Hakone Tozan train is the only mountain railroad in Japan and involves three switchbacks in its path. After we got back to Hakone-Yumoto, it was still a little too early to check into our hotel. So we walked around the station area which is teeming with shops and restaurants. But neither one of us was hungry and the shops were selling the same things. In addition, our carry-on luggage was already full, so we hopped on a bus bound for our hotel at the first opportunity.

The freshly made cakes smelled incredible

and tasted delicious

Now it doesn't sound like we did much in Hakone, and you're right. But that doesn't mean there isn't much to see in the area. There are multiple art museums. One of which is the Hakone Open Air Museum. This institution has many world class sculptures on display in an open garden and other world class paintings on display inside, including many pieces by Picasso. The Husband and I went when we were in Hakone and enjoyed it. But The Girl is not into museums, especially when it involves being outside in a drizzling rain, so we skipped the museums and went straight to relaxation.

One of the highlights of our previous trip to Hakone was staying in a ryokan with our own private onsen. A ryokan is a traditional inn that often provides kaiseki (a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner that reflects the current season), breakfast, communal baths, and total relaxation. Given The Girl's classic American shyness towards nudity, I knew the only way to get her to try one of these onsens is if it were in a private setting.

After much research, I finally settle on Yama no Chaya, a ryokan that offered private in-room onsens as well as in-room meals. After crossing its own suspension bridge, we were greeted by workers bearing large umbrellas. We left our shoes by the front door and were shown to our room by our own private attendant for the duration of our stay.

Yama no Chaya

The ryokan's private suspension bridge

She explained that in addition to our own onsen, the ryokan also has four public ones to choose from. The public onsens are segregated based on gender but these would alternate between men and women during certain hours so one can enjoy all of them. There was also one public onsen that can be reserved for private use. Even though we had arrived 30 minutes after check in time, the only available reservation times for this onsen was at 4 pm or 11 pm. I reserved the 4 pm slot which was only 20 minutes away. We quickly disrobed and put on our provided yukata, a summer kimono commonly worn around a ryokan, and hit that onsen.

Our modified Japanese room--those are mattresses instead of futons

Our private in-room onsen

Since the bath waters are shared in Japan, you are supposed to thoroughly clean yourself first before getting in. Our reservation only lasted 30 minutes so we cleaned ourselves as fast as we could and got into the hot water. The water was perfect and so relaxing. Our time quickly came to an end and we returned to our own room. We had planned on checking out the other public onsens, but time slipped away from us and we never got around to it.

The area where one actually gets clean

The public onsen that can be privately reserved

Dinner was served shortly after we returned to our room. There was great diversity of hot and cold foods, as well as meat, seafood, and vegetarian dishes. Our attendant gave an introduction to each course and explained the reasoning for the order of the plates, but I honestly cannot remember. I was too dazzled by the beautiful displays of delicious food. After finishing our dinner, which took two hours, I soaked in our private onsen. The tub was so deep that you could sit inside and be completely covered up to your neck. But it was not very big. Only one person could fit at a time. Despite much prodding, The Girl decided against getting into another onsen for the day. So much for spending the extra money on a private in-room onsen. Regardless, we had a good sleep that night after the hot bath.